Illuminated vehicular assembly for day and night use

Abstract

A vehicle lighting system is provided primarily for use with emergency response vehicles. The vehicle lighting system includes at least one luminescent planar sheet affixed to a vehicle's mounting surface. The luminescent planar sheet includes a non-luminescent printed circuit board in the shape of a letter or number which has a top surface of a color which contrasts with the mounting surface's color. The luminescent planar sheet includes a plurality of light emitting LEDs which are surface mounted upon the printed circuit board so as to be arranged in the shape of the desired letter or number with the LEDs covering no more than 20% of the printed circuit board's top surface. Preferably, the LEDs cover no more than 7% the printed circuit board's top surface.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16 / 298,739 filed Mar. 11, 2019, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16 / 185,951 filed Nov. 9, 2018, now U.S. patent Ser. No. 10 / 246,005 issued Apr. 2, 2019, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 907,023 filed Feb. 27, 2018, now U.S. patent Ser. No. 10 / 406,969 issued Aug. 21, 2019, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 593,817 filed May 12, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,919,645 issued Mar. 20, 2018, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14 / 736,997 filed Jun. 11, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,656,597 issued May 23, 2017, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14 / 512,171 filed on Oct. 10, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,682,648 issued Jun. 20, 2017, which in turn is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent appli...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides an improved vehicular external lighting system that can be easily integrated into an existing vehicle's electrical system, using a low current draw. The system includes a controller that selectively controls a planar light panel to produce infrared light above 760 nanometers, while not producing substantial visible light below 600 nanometers. The infrared light is designed to be invisible to the human eye with a protective coating. The system can be affixed to the roof or top of an emergency response vehicle, or attached to a planar roof plate that affixes to the vehicle roof, providing better aerodynamics and support for items mounted to the plate's upper surface. The illuminated numerals and letters can be visible from the air, identifying the emergency response vehicle. The system can operate with a low current draw and is simple to install.

Problems solved by technology

However, typically, these numerals are in plain black text and are not illuminated.

Therefore, when there is little or no light, it can be difficult to distinguish the numbers on top of a police vehicle.

Unfortunately, even these lighted systems suffered from serious drawbacks, particularly during the daytime.

When mounted on a white surface, such as the top of an emergency response vehicle painted white, the alphanumeric characters are very difficult to read.

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